Warm-up tips
LIVE MUSIC 2: Warm-up tips
A) Finger warm-up
Before you rehearse or perform, it is important to have some warm-ups for the fingers, hands and every joint, including the neck and back. This way you can increase the blood-flow in your muscles and help prevent injuries related to music performance and you can better focus on your instrument and music too. There are some general exercises for all musicians but also every instrument needs special warm-up exercises, for example, percussionists should pay attention to their backs, shoulders, necks, hands and wrists; string players should mainly warm their backs, shoulders and necks and wind instruments players should take care of their shoulders, arms, noses, throats, mouths and lips.
Here you can see some basic general warm-up exercises for fingers that any performer can do.
| Tip touch |
| Finger spread |
| Finger webbing |
| Finger splitting |
| Hook, full fist, straight fist |
| Interlaced fingers stretches |
| Videos by Lorena Varela (CC-BY-NC-SA) |
b) Practice organization
You must practise to improve your music performance and there are some elements around you that can help with this.
1-Arrange your practice room so that it becomes an inspiring area. Use a comfortable chair, a music stand, a mirror, a metronome, proper light and keep it warm while you play.
2-Organise your practice. Start with some scales or easy melodies to warm up. Then divide the material you have to study into sections. Start playing with a slow tempo and increase speed till you get the right beat. Try to memorize the notes and practise till it is correct. Take breaks regularly and finally, schedule the time you want to practise and turn it into a regular activity.
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